JAKARTA: (Bernama) Indonesia on Wednesday (Aug 26) ramped up firefighting operations in Kalimantan and Sumatera as forest and land fires continued to rage, burning an estimated 74,870 hectares across six priority provinces.
The aerial operations involved 52 helicopters, which dropped more than four million litres of water on fire-affected areas, National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Acting Head of Disaster Data, Information and Communication Centre Berton Panjaitan said.
"We recorded today that 4.6 million litres of water had been lifted and dropped on fire spots through several sorties in the six priority provinces,” he told an online media conference on Wednesday.
He said a total of 7,334 hotspots were recorded in six provinces on Tuesday, with West Kalimantan accounting for the highest number at 2,610, followed by Central Kalimantan with 2,110 and South Sumatra with 1,438.
He said the indicative burned area was also largest in West Kalimantan at 38,311 hectares, followed by Riau (16,440 hectares), South Kalimantan (9,605 hectares), Central Kalimantan (7,634 hectares), South Sumatra (1,926 hectares) and Jambi (954 hectares).
The ongoing forest and land fires had caused air quality to deteriorate sharply, with the Air Pollutant Index (API) in parts of Central Kalimantan reaching 573 early Wednesday, a level classified as hazardous.
Meanwhile Health Ministry Health Crisis Centre Head Agus Jamaludin said about 3.4 million people had been affected by the fires across seven provinces, namely Riau, Jambi and South Sumatra on Sumatra, as well as West, Central, East and South Kalimantan.
The fires have also raised serious concern in neighbouring countries, including Malaysia, as transboundary haze has worsened air quality in parts of the southern Asean region. - Bernama
